The settlement covers models going back to 2010, affecting millions of owners

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs

• Hyundai and Kia agree to settle airbag defect lawsuit; each original plaintiff gets $2,500, while attorneys get over $20 million.

• Settlement covers more than a dozen Hyundai and Kia models going back to 2010, impacting millions of current and former owners.

• Fairness hearing set for September 29; consumers may file reimbursement or residual payment claims by March 2027.

Hyundai and Kia have reached a proposed settlement in a sweeping class-action lawsuit over defective airbag control units and, in a now-familiar twist, most of the money is headed not to consumers but to attorneys. The agreement awards $2,500 each to 20 original plaintiffs, while lawyers representing affected customers will receive over $20.4 million.

The case stems from alleged defects in airbag control units supplied by ZF-TRW, which could fail during a crash due to electrical overstress. The lawsuit consolidates over 20 class-action suits dating back to August 2019, following a recall of more than 1 million Hyundai and Kia vehicles. Other automakers named in the suit, including Toyota and Mitsubishi, have previously settled similar claims.

The vehicles initially affected included 20112013 Hyundai Sonata and Sonata Hybrid models, as well as 20102013 Kia Forte, Forte Koup, Optima, Optima Hybrid, and Sedona. But the settlement agreement now includes a broader list of models, encompassing millions of vehicles manufactured between 2010 and 2023:

Eligible Vehicles:

• 20112019 Hyundai Sonata

• 20112019 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid

• 20182023 Hyundai Kona

• 20222023 Hyundai Kona N

• 20192021 Hyundai Veloster

• 20102013 Kia Forte and Forte Koup

• 20112020 Kia Optima

• 20112016 Kia Optima Hybrid

• 20112012, 2014 Kia Sedona

While Hyundai and Kia have agreed to the settlement, they admit no wrongdoing. The deal provides several forms of compensation, including:

• A 10-year warranty on new airbag control units installed under the recall (limited to failure from electrical overstress).

• Reimbursement for reasonable out-of-pocket repair costs tied to recalled vehicles.

• Residual payments of up to $350 for owners of recalled vehicles and $150 for unrecalled ones.

Consumers who believe they are eligible may visit acusettlement.com for information and to submit a claim form. However, the settlement is not yet final it requires court approval following a fairness hearing scheduled for September 29, 2025. If approved, claim forms must be submitted by March 29, 2027.

The settlement wasfirst reported by CarComplaints.com.

Chemical exposure may have more risks than many consumers anticipated

• Blood levels of PFAS (forever chemicals) were linked to about a 31% increased future risk of type 2 diabetes.
  

• The study compared 180 newly diagnosed diabetes cases with 180 matched nondiabetic controls from Mount Sinais BioMe cohort.
  

• Metabolic disruptions in amino-acid and drug-processing pathways may offer clues to how PFAS interfere with blood sugar regulation.
  

Per and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), or forever chemicals, have gotten a lot of attention recently for the plethora of health risks associated with them.

Now, a new study from Mount Sinai suggests that PFAS exposure may quietly raise your risk of developing type2 diabetes.

PFAS are synthetic chemicals that resist heat, oil, water, and stains, and are found in countless everyday consumer products, researcher Vishal Midya, Ph.D., M.Stat., said in a news release.

Because they dont break down easily, PFAS accumulate in the environment and in human bodies. Our study is one of the first to examine how these chemicals may disrupt the bodys metabolism in ways that increase diabetes risk particularly in diverse U.S. populations.

The study

The research team conducted the study using BioMe, a healthrecord linked biobank that has enrolled over 70,000 people at Mount Sinai Hospital since 2007.

They selected 180 individuals recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and matched them with 180 similar participants (same age, sex, ancestry) who did not have diabetes.

Blood samples from all participants were tested for PFAS levels. The researchers then examined how increasing PFAS exposure related to subsequent diabetes risk, while also exploring metabolic signatures in pathways tied to aminoacid biosynthesis and drug metabolism.

The results

The key finding: For each step up in PFAS exposure (e.g. from low to moderate, moderate to high), there was a 31% higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later on.

While the study cant prove PFAS causes diabetes directly, it did find signs that PFAS may disrupt critical metabolic processes specifically aminoacid biosynthesis and drug metabolism which are intimately involved in regulating blood sugar.

This research leverages an exposomics framework to characterize environmental impacts and associated metabolic alterations contributing to the development of type 2 diabetes in vulnerable U.S. populations, researcher Damaskini Valvi, M.D., Ph.D., MPH, said in the news release.

These findings can help us design more effective interventions for the early prevention of type 2 diabetes in the future, taking into account individuals exposures to environmental chemicals along with other well-known genetic, clinical, and lifestyle factors implicated in diabetes development. Mounting research suggests that PFAS are a risk factor for several chronic diseases, such as obesity, liver disease, and diabetes.

Part of a push to reduce chronic disease in the U.S.

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs

Forecasters struggle amid changing climate, shrinking resources

• Forecasters revise outlook as 2024's bizarre hurricane behavior throws seasonal models into question.

• Despite a midseason lull, last year saw a record number of late hurricanes, pushing the season into hyperactive status.

• Concerns grow over weakened federal weather agency's ability to respond during peak storm months.

As the most dangerous weeks of hurricane season approach, meteorologists are finding it harder than ever to forecast what the Atlantic might deliver a challenge made worse by budget cuts hampering the U.S. weather agencys response capabilities.

The 2024 hurricane season, initially expected to be overactive, defied predictions and left forecasters scrambling to explain why weeks passed with little to no storm activity. The confusion has prompted a recalibration: researchers at Colorado State University, one of the leading seasonal forecast groups, have dialed back their expectations, trimming their outlook from nine storms to eight before the official end of the season on Nov. 30.

It was bizarre, and I definitely felt like a complete moron for a while, said Phil Klotzbach, a hurricane expert at Colorado State. Basically everything that we used last year was screaming: This will be a busy season.

Instead, the Atlantic went eerily quiet from late August through most of September 2024. An initial postmortem from a team of 20 scientists points to an unusual blend of factors: persistent warm air layers, intermittent dry pockets over the ocean, strong wind shear, and a strange pattern that saw some storm systems veer northward before they could intensify over record-warm tropical waters.

It was hyperactive, after all

Still, the quiet didnt last. Once storms began to churn again, they did so with force. The 2024 season ended up spawning seven hurricanes between late September and November, the most ever recorded so late in the season. Three of those were Category 3 or stronger, tipping the year into hyperactive territory, despite the early lull.

The shifting patterns are raising questions about the reliability of traditional forecasting models. Scientists rely on a complex cocktail of ocean temperatures, wind patterns, and atmospheric conditions to predict storm frequency and strength. But as climate change throws more curveballs, those models are under increasing strain.

And theres another layer of concern: the National Weather Service and other federal agencies responsible for tracking and responding to storms are grappling with staffing and funding shortages. The system hasnt yet faced a major hurricane since these constraints set in a reality that worries emergency managers and local officials.

Looking ahead, there are signs the Atlantic could heat up literally. The stretch of ocean where many cyclones form was nearly 0.9F (0.5C) above normal as of July 23, one of the hottest readings on record for this time of year. That warm water is like fuel for storms, and unless tropical systems emerge to siphon it off, conditions may become even more volatile.

The heat is building, Klotzbach warned, and its just waiting for something to tap into it.